


Another Way

by H3K83



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Final Fantasy XIV, NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: All Saints' Wake (Final Fantasy XIV), Crossover, F/F, Final Fantasy XIV Spoilers, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Gen, Novella
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H3K83/pseuds/H3K83
Summary: Our story follows Yasmin Queen who, after her many adventures, trials, and tribulations, finds yet another unlikely one when she stumbles across a strange stone in the thick of The Black Shroud shortly before All Saints' Wake. Not long after, Yasmin becomes the vigilante known to the layfolk as 'The Hood' to seek vengeance and justice the realms over during the stint of the holiday. This is the story of what she will need to become and what she has still yet to be.
Relationships: Yasmin Queen/Izzy Lindel
Kudos: 4





	1. Yasmin Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this story may contain spoilers involving current content in the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Another Way is a 5-part short story that will be released throughout the month of October in concert with Final Fantasy XIV's All Saints' Wake holiday. New chapters will be released every Sunday and will be capped off with a final, special chapter, on Saturday October 31st to conclude Yasmin Queen's adventure.

  
  


_"My name is Yasmin Queen. I have fought countless battles, given my life for the cause, with only one goal: To survive. Now I've found a different path, a different purpose, and I will use the chance I've been given to find another way. I will walk the path trodden by countless faces and names before me to bring justice to the realms during this hallowed time. To do this, I've become someone else -- something else."_

It was not long before these words were spoken that a seasoned warrior found herself amid the thick canopies of The Black Shroud, rooting around for Gods knows what. These days the hopeless causes blurred together into a formless blob that she'd long since stopped trying to make sense of. It was enough for our warrior to put some good into the world, even if it meant sacrificing her own sense of adventure for it in the process. Soon she spotted a glimmer of something in the distance on the ground and went over to it, reaching down before pulling up what could only be described as an arrowhead shaped stone. Little did she know that this seemingly boring pursuit would yield perhaps one of the strangest experiences that she'd ever had in either of her lives.

Upon examining the stone, she noticed the engravings on its face that almost seemed Hingan but not quite as the symbol didn't seem familiar to her at first glance. Part of her wondered if the stone was Allagan, but the script etched into it seemed to bear typographical features consistent with modern Hingan glyphs. Granted, she was no expert, but she'd lived and worked out of Kugane and the Ruby Sea enough to know Hingan when she saw it. Thus the rabbit hole seemed to go ever deeper as she stared into the inscrutable stones' etching, finding herself overtaken by a sensation she knew well. Memories and emotion flooded forth from the stone, forcing her to bear witness to the countless lives it had touched and perhaps ones that it would touch in the future.

The sensation was overwhelming as her memory sectors struggled to take in and compartmentalize all of the information without corrupting it. Tears ebbed dangerously at the corners of her eyes before breaking and rolling down her cheeks just as she was finally released from the trance. Slumping forward and breathing in gasping, quaking, breathes the warrior steeled herself and got to her feet, seeming to abandon the quest she'd taken on as she unleashed a wave of energy and disappeared from view. Days later, the warrior found herself cloistered in an inn room at the Crystarium, working feverishly over a makeshift crafting table before gazing upon her work with a solemnness to her features. It was not long after that the first reports of a hood-clad vigilante, creatively named 'The Hood' by some, stirred amid the hushed whispers of the layfolk.

Thus the warriors' newest adventure began on the eve of the month of All Saints' Wake...


	2. Second Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this story may contain spoilers involving current content in the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Another Way is a 5-part short story that will be released throughout the month of October in concert with Final Fantasy XIV's All Saints' Wake holiday. New chapters will be released every Sunday and will be capped off with a final, special chapter, on Saturday October 31st to conclude Yasmin Queen's adventure.

  
  


_“My name is Yasmin Queen. A week ago I was an adventurer given a second chance at life when I stumbled across a stone that changed everything a second time. Now I traverse the worlds with only one goal… to save my star. To do so, however, I can’t be the person I used to be, weighed down by sins long past. I have to be someone better. I must be something better.”_

Bounding across the connective tissue-like bridges and decks of Limsa Lominsa, our warrior, better known as ‘The Hood’, found herself pursuing her latest mark in a series of scoundrels and petty ne’er-do-wells. She had known these people in another life and had been complicit in their crimes, which ranged from trifling to heinous depending on the perpetrator in question and who you asked. Nevertheless, they were part of a larger sickness that The Hood intended to cleanse from the realm to hopefully remedy the mistakes that she’d made what seemed so very long ago. Such was the intent when she loosed a bolt into the shoulder blade of a well-known and high-ranking cartel member named Fafatu Fatu who she had dealt with frequently in her youth.

Jumping from the level above where she’d felled her prey, The Hood conjured wind to cushion her fall as she repositioned the bow in her hand with a practiced flick of her wrist. When she approached Fatu, the Lalafellan woman was writhing on the ground and muttering out curses that would’ve made a pirate blush. Those curses were exacerbated when The Hood gripped the end of the bolt sticking from Fatu’s shoulder and unceremoniously dragged her into a corridor where they could better chat. In one quick motion, The Hood ripped the bolt from Fatu’s body, casting the bolt aside as the Plainsfolk woman screeched in agony and cursed her. Callously, The Hood growled out in response “Tell me where to find Flaztwyr!” Her footsteps audible as she paced in front of Fatu, the Lalafellan woman managing in the meanwhile to squirm and prop herself against a wall with a painful moan.

Blood laced Fatu’s lips as she let out a half-delirious scoff and choked out “G-go screw yerself. If I t-tell you where Flaztwyr is I’ll be worse off than ah-anythin- AH-! Motherf- Mmn!” Before Fatu could finish The Hood had pulled out another bolt from her quiver and lodged it deep into the Lalafell’s thigh, snarling out “I wasn’t giving you a choice.” Releasing the bolt from her clenched fist, The Hood turned from Fatu as a whole new wave of painful sounds slipped the lips of the woman behind her. Turning back to face Fatu, The Hood demanded again “Tell me where to find Flaztwyr or I go and pay Trabault a visit and ask him. Your choice Fatu.” The determination in The Hoods’ steeled voice was clear as she sought to end the engagement as quickly as possible by playing her trump card to force Fatu’s hands.

Fatu’s eyes locked on The Hood as her anguish visibly turned to disgust and fear in equal measure, almost forcing the Lalafell from the floor as she bellowed out in sobered clarity “You sick sunuvah-! What kind of person-!?” Rage and distaste swelled on the Plainsfolk woman’s face as The Hood bellowed back “Then tell me!” The corridor went silent for several seconds after the exchange as Fatu glared hatefully at The Hood and, eventually, conceded stating grudgingly “… He’s docked off the coast of Aerslaent in the Northern Empty… Gah.. T-The ship is… extravagant. Ya c-can’t… mmn… miss the ths-thrice damned thing!” Prompting The Hood to simply turn to leave after hearing what Fatu had to say as she called out into the aether before disappearing “She’s all yours.” After The Hoods’ departure, a rather kind looking Roegadyn woman named Robin, clad in yellow, made her appearance from around the corner and strode up to Fatu, lending succor to the broken Lalafell as if on cue.

Days later, as Fatu recovered in an undisclosed location, her son Trabault brought his mother the latest issue of the Mythril Eye — a local newspaper. On the front page was a rough sketch of the wreckage of a ship called the ‘Iron Wing’ that, according to the accompanying statement, had been burnt to ash off the coast of Aerslaent, and with it the cartel boss Flaztwyr. News of this seemed to shake Fatu to her core as she carefully folded the paper and told Trabault to come to her. Fatu hugged the boy tightly as the Elezen child stared at the picture of the ships’ wreckage with a sidelong gaze, thoroughly confused, but happy all the same to have more time with his mother like this. Meanwhile, as Fatu embraced the boy she teared up at the silent truth that she, and she alone, was privy to: She’d been given a second chance, like it or not. Half a world over in Kugane, however, The Hoods’ work was far from complete — no one structure was supported by a single pillar. This institution had many, and The Hood needed to remove them all if she were going to undermine the larger infrastructure built by these corrupt elements. And so The Hoods’ work continued as All Saints’ Wake rapidly approached…


	3. The Past, Present, and Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this story may contain spoilers involving current content in the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Another Way is a 5-part short story that will be released throughout the month of October in concert with Final Fantasy XIV's All Saints' Wake holiday. New chapters will be released every Sunday and will be capped off with a final, special chapter, on Saturday October 31st to conclude Yasmin Queen's adventure.

  
  


_"My name is Yasmin Queen. It has been two weeks since I chose to walk the path that forever changed either of my lives. Now I traverse the realms on a crusade to bring justice to them and undo the wrongs that I have helped commit. To some, I am a hero. To others, I am the vigilante known as 'The Hood'. But to right these wrongs, I am becoming someone else. I am becoming something else."_

On high, atop an ornate building that towered over the Rakuza District of Kugane, The Hood's watchful gaze never wavered as she studied the situation below with steely resolve. From that high up she could see the happenings on the street below as well as in the Bokaisen Hot Springs where several notable members of the Kurushimu had gathered. The tattoos that blanketed their bare skin told her that much and of their beliefs which read like a tapestry that she was able to deftly translate without a second glance. Such was how The Hood could tell which of them to target as she bided her time and closely stalked one of the greener looking men who had gone to dry off and get dressed. It wasn't long after that The Hood spotted him rounding a corner into an alleyway that she'd made her move, dropping from an impossible distance and cushioning her fall with a breezy wind gust.

Alerted when he felt the unnatural gust of wind, the Kurushimu man whipped around, going for his dagger instinctively that sat in his belt, before an open-palm strike to his solar plexus floored him. Next, an uppercutting kick cracked below the man's jaw before the darkness set in and he was relegated to the annals of his subconscious state. It wasn't long after that the man felt cold sea water doust his body as he roused, shaking violently, and frantically trying to get a grasp of his surroundings. Yelling out into the void in a pained voice, the Hyurian man lashed out irreverently " Wh-Where am I!? Do you know who I am! You can't do this to me! Y-You're dead! You're all dead! Y-You and all of your friends and fam-!" Until he was soundly silenced by a flash and a gloved hand gripping his mouth and nose firmly as he struggled to take in air, spasming as he tried.

The Hood seemed content at taking the man to his limits as she demanded "WHERE IS THE ONI!?" In a growling voice before taking her hand away from the man's face who was shaking so violently that the chair had begun rattling against the floor causing a ruckus by this point. Tears melted into the sea water as the man's reddened, bloodshot eyes, finally were able to focus on The Hood and in gasping, choking, breaths he immediately cursed her. Once more The Hood gripped the man's face who seemed as if he was going to pass out as he spasmed and reeled as The Hood stated "Wrong answer." Then in a demanding tone, The Hood asked once more that the man tell her where The Oni was, going through the same tortuous procedure that she would come to employ time and again until he gave her what she was looking for.

By the time that the Hyurian man, Godo Ujitaka, had told her what she needed to know, along with a couple of other choice details, it had been days and he was half-dead and delirious from oxygen deprivation -- but she finally got it out of him. Proceeding then afterward to unrestrain him and throw his dagger at his feet just before she absconded from the safehouse she'd taken him to near the pier. It was well-known what The Kurushimu did to snitches and, even if The Hood had given him over to the Sekiseigumi, there was little that they could've done to protect him now. Giving him the choice was the best The Hood could do or would have done for a man who had committed such wanton death and destruction -- following an example she herself had made no less. Besides, The Hood had more important things to worry about as evening drew near and her pursuit of The Oni, and to remedy one of her biggest mistakes, came to a head.

It was that evening that The Hood took to the rooftops, bounding over them in leaps, and using wind to cushion her footfalls as she silently made her way to the Kogane Dori and to a small food stall. There, several grunts were out front and eating side-by-side, posing as unassuming customers while guards on either side of the building patrolled the alleyways making it nearly impossible to gain entry. Fortunately, there was an open window not far below her that she was able to slip into quietly, finding herself in a storage closet that led to a long hallway that seemed otherwise empty. Making her way as quickly and as quietly through the halls as she could, The Hood encountered surprisingly little resistance, most of whom she was able to knock out without much effort. Finally finding some stairs, The Hood descended them and was able to sneak past the bottom level into a sub-level which seemed to have been retrofitted extensively, before finding herself face-to-face with two Kurushimu guards.

There was little that she could do to avoid being spotted and, before she knew it, The Hood was entrenched in a brawl, grabbing the first Kurushimu who lunged at her with a knife and disarming the Raen girl soundly. Meanwhile, The Hood landed a kick into the larger Roegadyn Kurushimu's chest as he went fumbling backward before she used the Raen Kurushimu's arm as leverage to get behind her and throw her over her shoulder with a snapping crack. A choking shriek was sharply silenced as The Hood whipped around and threw a punch at the Raen's head, knocking her out cold as her cranium bounced up and back down to the ground with a dull thud. After which The Hood spun around, landing a blow into the center mass of the Roegadyn's stomach who took the brunt of the jab and gripped The Hood's arm, tossing her like a ragdoll into the far wall. Slamming into the plaster as it cracked off of the wall, falling to the ground in pieces with her, The Hood, struggled to her feet with newly found focus laced with copious amounts of anger.

Manifesting her bow in a flurry of brightly lit particles, The Hood sought to quickly end the engagement and nocked an exploding bolt before firing it just off-center from the man. The bolt embedding itself in the wood of the door behind him, the Roegadyn man grinned at chuckled out "You're in for it now girl-"Just before a beeping sound signaled an immense explosion, propelling the Roegadyn to the side and blowing the door off its hinges -- and to pieces at that. Securing the bow to her back, The Hood unwaveringly walked past the struggling Roegadyn who soon fell limp and passed out from his injuries as she systematically, and callously, dealt with the Kurushimu guards who confronted her. Dispatching them one-by-one, The Hood made her way to the center of the compound where she presumed that The Oni would be to confront the woman. When she finally got there though, after fighting off nearly an army of grunts, she found little more than a shell of the woman she once knew, adorned in rags and beaten to submission.

The Hood stopped in her tracks, not more than three yalms away from her former employer, in a rare moment of surprise as the gravity of what was happening sunk in. Before The Hood could have said or done anything, the woman The Hood once knew as The Oni stated "You should have stayed gon-" Just as the concussive force of the bomb hidden beneath the throne-like chair she sat on sent The Hood flying back, sending shrapnel through her body, and flinging her through the heavy wooden door behind her. It was not long after this that her body shut down due to the damage that she'd sustained and began broadcasting a tracking signal as a part of its self-preservation function. Not long after it did, reverberating sonar-like sounds came from the distance as a small machine floated through the demolished, but still standing, labyrinth that was formerly the Kurushimu compound. It began assessing her condition before administering what aid it could and rebooting her systems, stating in an evident tone when she awoke "This Pod has concluded that this building has become structurally unsound. Advisory: Vacate the unsound structure immediately."

Pushing herself up onto one arm, The Hood muttered back "N-No shit." Before examining herself and realizing that, while she was out of the woods, the damage to her body was extensive and she'd need to get it repaired very soon. With that, The Hood pulled out a ring that dangled from a chain around her neck and focused on it as a wave of energy erupted from the jewelry and she and the machine were whisked away. It was soon after that she was spit out in Il Mheg of all places, before both another Xaela woman with a dark complexion and a gaggle of pixies who were ooing and awing at what had just happened. Looking up to the Xaela, half able to concentrate at this point, The Hood muttered out "Get the dwarve-" Before her systems gave out and she shut down, leaving the one person in the world she trusted more than herself with the task of getting her patched up.

And so another chapter concludes, evoking more questions than there are answers for...


	4. The Crisis on Infinite Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this story may contain spoilers involving current content in the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Another Way is a 5-part short story that will be released throughout the month of October in concert with Final Fantasy XIV's All Saints' Wake holiday. New chapters will be released every Sunday and will be capped off with a final, special chapter, on Saturday October 31st to conclude Yasmin Queen's adventure.

  
  


_ "My name is Yasmin Queen. After suffering a setback in my crusade, I have found my way back to the one person I trust most in all of the realms. Now she and others have chosen to join the fight and aid my journey. To them, I was once someone else a lifetime ago. To the rest of the realms, I am the feared vigilante the Hood. But to bring justice, I will become more. I will become someone else. I will become something else." _

A concerned look crossed the other Xaela woman's face as she nearly immediately dropped to her knee and began examining The Hood while the Pixies around her gawked and suggested drawing on The Hoods' face. Belting out a "Oi! You lot get away from her! She's mine, and ya damn well know it. Don't make me turn ya all into beavers!" Prompting a response from the other Pixies which ranged from giggles to grumbling as they fluttered away and the Xaela woman murmured out before propping the Hood up "We'll get ya right patched up... Upsy-daisy!" Meanwhile the machine that had come with the Hood stated the obvious, saying "Advisory: This u-" Before getting soundly cut off by the Xaela woman who flatly chided the machine, impatiently stating "I got it ya over glorified tomestone!" The machine was, however, persistent and stated "If an attending support units' target is immobile, requiring repair or extraction, it is programmed to automatically repeat this request every 30 seconds over all secure verbal and non-verbal channels." Provoking a sigh of exasperation from the Xaela woman who unleashed a wave of energy that engulfed them and whisked them away from Il Mheg just as quickly as the Hood had arrived.

Appearing at the Dwarven home of Tomra in Kholusia, the Xaela woman called in a couple of favors from the locals and was able to procure a sturdy cart. With their help, the Xaela woman was able to haul the Hood onto the cart and began the journey to Komra despite the clear animosity the dwarves of Tomra displayed at the mention of Komra. Along the way there, the Xaela woman used her magics to deftly dispatch any threats that might've wandered too close, before finally making it to Komra where she found and got help from a pair of dwarves. The dwarves, Anogg and Konogg, brought the Hood and the Xaela woman to a cavern where the Hood was laid out on a table and finally Konogg blurted out "Lali-what-the-hells-happened-ho!?" The two of the dwarves then launched into a tirade of questions and lectured the Xaela woman, who they called Izzy, about the lengths they had to go through just to adapt that automaton body to do what she'd wanted it to. Meanwhile, Izzy tried her best to calm them down before yelling "I don't know! I haven't seen her in several weeks now!" Anogg chiming back "But she's yer wife!" To which Izzy responded "We're adventurers! We aren't always around one another. Just- Can ya fix her or not?" After which the dwarves took a pause and jumped up in a lali-ho pose, stating in tandem "O' course we can!" Konogg adding moments later "What do we look like? Tomra dwarves? Psh. We can patch her up, no sweat, but it'll take a while. So sit yerself down and have an ale."

Ignoring the last part, Izzy said "Good then, I'll leave ya to it. I'll be over... here. On this rock. Or maybe this one... No- This one. This one's the prettiest. Ya, this one." Izzy finding herself in a rather Pixish dilemma as she tried to find the loveliest rock to sit on while her wife was operated on by two explosive-happy dwarves. Yet, despite their love of demolishing things, the two of them were the ones who had been able to convert that corpse into something usable, thus setting Izzy at something of a state of ease. Ease, however, would not make the arduous repair work go any quicker as the dwarves spent countless hours working on the Hoods' mangled inner workings. While in the meanwhile they sent Izzy into the Copied Factory nearly a half-dozen times to grab parts, finally finishing up after a full days' worth of working on the Hood. Wasting no time in booting her systems back up, it took a moment or two for the Hood to come online after a series of internal diagnostics completed themselves and her motor functions were released. Sitting up bolt-right, the Hood scanned her surroundings before realizing both where she was and what had happened, furrowing her brow as the dwarves launched into a tirade at her and Izzy started over to her. The questions that followed were hard to answer and the care palpable as she attempted to explain what she was doing that had gotten her injured and why she was wearing what she was.

After she'd gone over the particulars, the dwarves left and Izzy asked in earnest "Why didn't ya tell me..? I would've helped." To what ends, the Hood came back with "Izzy, come on. You know why I didn't tell you. This is... personal-" Where Izzy shot back "No, you don't get to do that. When we took our vows in front of that moogle your personal became my personal. When I brought you back to life with the help of these two, your personal became our personal. You should've told us ya doink." Forcing the Hood to fall silent for the moments before the dwarves came back into the room, both with tankards of ale in their hands. Looking to them and then back to Izzy, the Hood sighed and relented and said "No, you're right. I don't have an excuse. I just found the stone and everything happened so quickly. I'm sorry Izzy." Looking back to the dwarves before saying earnestly "I'm sorry you two." The dwarves both giving a thumbs up and saying through ale dampened mouths "S'all right. Gave us some time to tinker in that body of yers and we learned a thing 'er two that might be of use in the future." Anogg adding in after "And we got a good look at that quiver of yers. Safe to say, we got ideas for ya." The Hood then cracking a smile at them in earnest and for the first time in weeks.

The levity, however, could only last for so long when the Hood asked "Well then, what now? I have to finish this. As much as I am sorry I didn't tell you, I need to see this through to the end. Something wasn't right in Kugane, clearly, and I have to figure out what that was to end this." Izzy chiming in a second later stating "Not without me. We'll go together, miss vigilante." The Hood beginning to protest but evaporating when she spotted the determined look in Izzy's eyes, replying simply "Alright." Then looking over to the twin dwarves and asking "And you two?" Konogg came back with "Well, o' course we can't come with ya for lotsa technical and scientific reasons. But that won't stop us from arming ya to the teeth." Followed by Anogg who stated "And helping you with your branding." Asking after "Have you thought of dropping 'The Hood' for something a little less sinister? Maybe 'Hawkeye'? Ooo, or maybe 'The Arrow'!?" Both statements bringing the Hood pause and to smile in earnest once more as she said "Thanks you two." Keeping in mind Anoggs' suggestions as they went over the logistics of what she'd need to finish this crusade of hers and do so hopefully this time less scathed than before.

Another couple of days passed in preparation before the Hood and Izzy departed the twin dwarves and Komra, thanking them for all that they had done. Together, the Hood, under the guise of Yasmin Queen, and Izzy investigated the site of the incident in Kugane, finding a few leads with the locals that they followed up on. All of which led to late nights tracking down and roughing up the seedy underbelly of the realm until they finally found what they were looking for: a name. What had become apparent in their search is that The Oni had become reclusive and her dealings had lately been handled by an older Viera called 'The Ogre' who claimed to be The Oni's older sibling. However, if that was true, it was impossible -- The Oni's older sibling had been killed during the Garlean invasion of Dalmasca some 30 years ago from what Yasmin knew of her. Yet, no matter how much they tried to disprove it over the next days, it seemed to always crop up, forcing Yasmin and Izzy to begin to accept the rumor. Thus, their sights turned to finding The Ogre and revealing the truth behind her activities as of late, hearing a rumor that she'd be meeting at a Garlean outpost just north of Werlyt. Infiltrating Garlean territory wouldn't be easy, but Yasmin had in the past and would again, mounting the expedition even if it were on the faintest of hopes that the information would pan out.

When finally Yasmin arrived, after taking on a veritable plethora of disguises to get there, she made her way to the outpost where The Ogre was said to be hosted. Keeping in communication with Izzy via Linkpearl, she stalked the steel lattices of the castrum before finally spotting her described mark, walking along with an imperial tribunus no less. Tailing them as silently as possible, Yasmin saw them nearing an office at the far side of the corridor and was forced to make her way down, donning the helm to the uniform she'd procured from one of the grunts. Losing sight of them just before she made it to the door, Yasmin came to the entrance of the office and knocked, giving a formal imperial salute before becoming at-ease. Stating with her arms folded behind her back, Yasmin said "Tribunus, my apologies for interrupting. I've been instructed to inform you and your guest that dinner will be served shortly." Turning away after the Tribunus motioned with his hand for her to go as her own snaked quickly behind a shelf and stuck a dwarven-made linkpearl-based microphone to the wall. After which the door closed behind her and Yasmin quickly made herself scarce, finding a closet to hide in as she listened in on their conversation.

Although most of the context was lost at that point, the important parts seemed to shine through on their own as both Yasmin and Izzy intently listened to them speak about their plans. All of which boiled down to a crisis that neither of them had intended to stumble upon and that would've jeopardized all of the realms if they succeeded. To what ends Yasmin made the call to extract herself, finding her way out of Garlean territory, and back to Izzy in order to devise a plan. The day The Orge and Tribunus were planning on doing what they intended was soon approaching, having been slated for the eve of All Saints' Wake when the borders between worlds were weakest. If they intended to stop The Ogre and Tribunus from causing a calamity unlike any other seen to date, to understand what led The Oni's older sister to damn the realms as she'd planned, Yasmin and Izzy needed help...


	5. Another Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be advised that this story may contain spoilers involving current content in the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Another Way is a 5-part short story that will be released throughout the month of October in concert with Final Fantasy XIV's All Saints' Wake holiday. New chapters will be released every Sunday and will be capped off with a final, special chapter, on Saturday October 31st to conclude Yasmin Queen's adventure.

  
  


_ "My name is Yasmin Queen. For a month I've fought under the presumption that my past wrongdoings were what has helped to poison both my own heart and that of the realms. Out of a drive to make up for my mistakes, I took up arms and set my sights on the goal of saving my star. But now a new threat has emerged, revealing an underlying darkness that has existed and pulled the strings all along. A danger so severe that it threatens the very existence of all of the worlds, demanding that I face it. It won't be enough to just be The Hood. To prevent the crisis to come, I will stand beside like souls. I will become someone else. I will become the Arrow." _

With the information Yasmin and Izzy had gleaned from their foray into Garlean territory, the two were beset with a problem that neither of them knew where to begin to deal with. Izzy being the first to suggest that they gather more intelligence on the matter as they began to separate what they did know from what they needed to know. What the pair did know was far too little for comfort, availed to that The Ogre and Tribunus were working together somehow and that they planned to bridge the gap between shards to disastrous ends on All Saints' Wake. Neither Yasmin nor Izzy knew where they planned upon enacting this feat, to what ends, or why The Ogre was alive against all prior information to the contrary. There were too many big unknown variables where one thing stuck out to the couple that they could both agree on -- where the Empire was involved there was bound to be trouble. Thus they began their pursuit to gather more information over the course of the next couple of days, using the time that they had to devise some sort of plan.

Dawning her disguise, Yasmin rattled a few cages as The Hood and came across rumors about The Ogre from various seedy sources that ranged from the fantastic to the downright depraved. One, however, seemed to set itself apart from the others -- the story that after The Ogre had been shot, a young and privileged Decurio took pity on her and used his families' political sway to save her life. The Ogre, however, had suffered extensive brain damage to the centers that governed behavior, causing the once gentle viera to become sadistic and brutal, which the Decurio monopolized on to rise up the ranks. It was a story that seemed hard to believe, but one that Yasmin couldn't help but do just that given that she knew better and had confirmed it with The Oni herself long ago. With that, Yasmin was able to justify how The Ogre was still alive and why she was working with the Tribunus, but that left the where, what, and why of their plans, which Izzy was intent on helping uncover.

Four days from All Saints' Wake, Izzy had been monitoring aetheric fluctuations on both The Source and The First, finding coinciding patterns between the two shards that appeared in intervals. In The Source, the fluctuations remained static, emanating from Castrum Centri on the west end of Mor Dhona, central between the Coerthas Central Highlands and Northern Thanalan. Meanwhile, in The First, the fluctuations seemed to jump around from place-to-place with each interval, suggesting the unstable nature of what The Ogre and Tribunus were attempting to do. However, the what and the why of the plot Yasmin and Izzy had yet to ascertain as their time to thwart The Ogre and Tribunus dwindled, forcing them to act with the information they had as All Saints' Wake drew closer. Thus, shifting their focus, the two of them focused on their plan which was already well in tow through the efforts of the twin dwarves in Komra.

With two days to spare, Yasmin and Izzy paid Anogg and Konogg a visit, finding the piece of equipment that Izzy had requested polished to completion as Yasmin inquired about it. Konogg came back with "Well a fine Lali-slave-driving-drahn-ho to ya both too! Sheesh! For a married couple ya two get on like Hobs fightin' over a scrap of Whiptail meat." Commenting on their lack of communication between one another as the dwarf began with "Well, ya see, this here thinga-ma-jig will utilize yer particular abilities to contact others like yerself in a certain radius. Izzy here was thinking ya might be able to get some hel-" Yasmin breaking off from Konogg to look at Izzy as she began with "Izzy, I told you. I don't want to involve anyone else in-" Getting soundly cut off herself as Izzy chided back "Oh quiet you. We need some help and ya know it. This is bigger than the both of us. Besides, even the Warrior of Light asks for help every now and again -- it's how we met, remember? So stop your whining and take the damn thing for the love of Titania." Yasmin finding herself at a loss for words as she nodded and thanked the dwarves, knowing full-well that Izzy had the right of it.

Next, the two paid Il Mheg a visit and took some time to speak with its denizens, recruiting help from the Pixies who were amenable to lending their aid after a little bit of fun at Yasmins' expense. Hearing about it, Tyr Beq, Ezel II, and An Lad also offered their support along with much of the other Pixies of Lyhe Mheg. Not long after, with just one day to spare, the two traveled between the shards to places they'd been in the past in a gambit to gain enough help to overcome the looming threat that was on the horizon. Each place they went, Yasmin disguised as The Hood appealed to others like her, stating variations of "You all know me as The Hood. To some, I am a hero and to others I am a villain to be feared like any other. Whatever you believe, it has always been my intention to bring justice to our realm and to the people who have suffered at the hands of injustices. And now, today, I am asking for your help. In less than a day, a psychopath known as The Ogre and her Imperial conspirators are planning on loosing a weapon that will threaten the worlds' very existence. I can't stop her without your help. Whether you agree with my methods or not, I implore you to do the right thing and be the heroes I know that you are and stand against this threat at my side. The choice is yours." Finishing each time with coordinates sent to listeners to give them the opportunity to help if they so chose to.

It seemed after that gambit that the rest of the time dragged as Yasmin and Izzy coordinated their team in The First and got prepared to infiltrate Castrum Centri in The Source. Just before the hour of reckoning, a knock came at the door of the safehouse Yasmin has secured in Mor Dhona to coordinate operations out of with Izzy. Opening the door Yasmin caught sight of a little over a dozen faces, each armed for battle as the miqo'te in the front grinned and asked "We late?" Yasmin smirked and stated "Right on time." Allowing the group, however big, to fill the room as they gathered around and were briefed on the operation, both familiar and unfamiliar faces listening intently and nodding. When all was said and done, at the designated time, several small groups of them coordinated by Izzy departed from the safehouse and made their way to their positions outside of Castrum Centri. Before they began, Izzy chimed into Yasmin's ear and told her "Looks like these lot aren't the only turnout we had this evening. I'm getting reports that dozens showed up at the rendezvous points around The First and there are more coming!" To what ends Yasmin replied back "Maybe we'll win this yet then. Alright, thanks Izzy." Switching over to the other channel, Yasmin stated tactically "Team Titan, you're up. Flank the front gate and Team Ifrit will break through the center. Team Garuda, you'll provide fire support. Everyone, now! Go! Go! Go!"

Moments after the operation began, the sounds of weapons clashing could be heard in the distance as Team Garuda moved out and to their positions while Team Ifrit made a bee-line for the castrums' entrance. Breaking through their defenses, Garuda, composed of ranged fighters, laid down supportive fire on the imperial troops that stood in Ifrits' way as they picked off stragglers. Firing a trick arrow, The Hood masked Ifrits' presence for a time as she, even through the smoke, accurately injured and maimed oncoming guards. Before long, through their efforts, the front section of Castrum Centri was theirs just before imperial armored mechs joined in the brawl and The Hood called everyone to regroup. Focusing their collective strength on the mechs, they were able to take them down one by one, shifting their sights on the reinforcements afterward as they did. However, as reinforcements arrived the reverie of Legionarius dwindled into Duplicarius who offered more resistance to the ragtag intruders, pushing them as their window of opportunity closed. That was just before a lone chakram wielder burst onto the scenes, their chakrams deftly flying through crowds of soldiers and culling them with lethal efficiency. Followed behind him were countless others who had stormed through the open front gates to support the effort, flooding in as The Hood found herself emboldened by the support. The vigilante's fist then flying into of one of the imperial soldier's faces as she whipped around and tripped another, nocking and firing an arrow point blank at a quivering Optio.

With the added support, the once ragtag group became a writhing crowd that mowed its way through Castrum Centri as they neared its center, spotting a pair of machines in the distance. A figure stood by them, one machine generating a fluctuating rift that seemed to tear straight through reality itself, presenting rapidly changing scenery within the breach. The other machine a monstrous horned mech bearing a black, silver, and scarlet design with gnarled wings that seemed to shift as they approached and it moved forward, making its way to the tear. Breaking through the crowd with a grappling arrow, The Hood fired the bolt into the side of the rift generator, zipping through the crowd toward the mech as the crowd followed close behind her. Before she could make her next move though, the mech turned and grabbed her suddenly out of mid-air, its grasp choking the life out of her as the Tribunus below yelled "Did you really think that  _ you _ could stop us? That  _ you _ could stop the Chaos Weapon!? You're a fool! And now you're going to d-!" The man's voice was cut off as The Hood used her free arm to grab at a dart from her shoulder holster and threw it with a whistling snap as it landed on a control panel beside the Tribunus. Sizzling and popping came from the panel as The Hood called back with a glitchy staticy voice "L-Lali-moth-motherfucking-ho asshole!"

The Tribunus slammed his hands into the panel in response, letting out a "Go through! Before it closes! NOW!" To the Chaos Weapon who reeled its arm back and tossed The Hood to the ground hard, making its way through just after as the tear snapped closed and the rift machine went inert. The Hood in the meanwhile plummeting to the ground as she regained some of her orientation in the air, using wind to cushion her fall but still skidding back on the metal plating of the Castrum's throughways to a halt. Falling to her knee, The Hood took in strained breaths looking up at the Tribunus and with a staticy unsteady voice called over the communications channel "Apprehend the Tribunus and dismantle the rift generator. I'm going after the Chaos Weapon." Pushing herself to her feet as she switched her channel to Izzy's and asking "Where did it land?" Getting a response which she replied to by saying "Have everyone in The First converge there. We're ending this." Unleashing a wave of aether right after and before Izzy could protest, disappearing from the cool evening air to the hot dry desert sun only a moment later at the Inn at Journey's Head. Running past the sickly and infirm, The Hood looked up into the sky where the Flood of Light had been stopped some hundred years ago where now The Chaos Weapon fixated itself in the sky, an orb of pure dark aether small and looming over it.

Thankfully it was the Pixies who got there first, followed by Ezel II who The Hood turned to and asked "Can you get me up there Ezel?" The Porxie looking almost taken aback as it relented and said "Well, this is highly irregular, of course, but I'll do it for you this time." It's poshness seeping through as The Hood climbed on its back and it remarked "Oh my! You are quite heavy! Oh, this will take me some time just..." Its ears flapping hard afterward as they lifted, the Porxie grunting out "There!" Pausing a second to get going as it chimed out "And here.. we... go!" With a copious amount of effort on Ezel II's part as the Pixies fell down giggling at laughing at the sight of a broody vigilante being carried away on Porxie back to fight a demonic-looking mech. Where, in the meantime, The Hood exclaimed loudly and in a staticy voice to the Porxie "Just get me close enough and I'll do the rest!" Nocking her bow with a zipline arrow as they ascended toward the weapon. Meanwhile, back on the ground, reinforcements had begun to flood in, relieving the Hood somewhat as she yelled to Ezel II "Okay! This is good!" The Porxie exclaiming back "Oh thank Titania!" As The Hood fired her arrow and it struck the Chaos Weapons' leg careening her toward it as Ezel II broke off and floated back down to the earth below.

At the end of the line, The Hood broke off, sending herself high into the air above the Chaos Weapon as it swiped at her feebly, clearly trying not to break its concentration. Just then, as she reached the apex of her jump, The Hood pulled out and knocked another arrow, firing it directly at the top of the Chaos Weapons' head. A circle glyph broke out around it, empowered by strange symbols which didn't seem to be thaumaturgical in nature, and that created a downforce of gravity that began roughly pushing the Chaos Weapon to the ground. The ball of dark aether that had swelled since she last saw it collapsed over The Hood as they both careened downward before, suddenly, a hand grabbed her and slowed her fall into a gentle decline. Attached to the small machine that The Hood had left behind was Izzy who acted as a bridge between it and Yasmin, Izzy grinning as she said "Well, I did say to that moogle until death do we part after all." Forcing a smile onto Yasmin's face as they neared the ground and the effect of the arrow dissipated, allowing the Chaos Weapon to recover. Taking little time to do so, the mech got to its feet once more, enraged by what had happened as its sights shifted from its goals to dealing with the nuisances that had presented themselves before it.

It didn't take long before the battle broke out and weapons found themselves clanging against armor while the Pixies used their Fae magics to alter their surroundings to give the group a better advantage. The sturdier among the crowd took to keeping the Chaos Weapons attention while dodging its swipes and missile barrages as the speedier went after its vital components and to find flaws within its manufacturing. In the meantime, the ranged among them loosed all manner of projectiles to keep the damage up and penetrate the energy shield that it had erected where the magically inclined used the shifting terrain to create all manner of chaos. The slurry of battle keeping the monster confused and at bay as its hydraulic lines were severed, forcing it to its knees as its armor plating was damaged or stripped away by the dueling magics. All the while the battalion of chirurgeons that had followed them took to healing the injured, leaving The Hood to find her opening as the goliath before her was brought low and she sunk a majority of her aether into one final hellish blow. Back away from the battle, The Hood channeled aether into a single arrow, the aether visible around the arrow as it grew intensity before finally, at just the right moment as the Chaos Weapons shielding collapsed, she fired it. The arrow ripping through the sand and then shifting terrain, past her forces, and flying straight through one of the Chaos Weapon's eyes leaving a visible hole in its wake straight through its head.

The Chaos Weapon finally fell silent after the attack, leaving Yasmin drained as cheers cried out from the crowd and a faint smile began to make itself present on The Hoods' face. It was over, or at least Yasmin though it was just before the scarlett core at its center began to glow and she found herself bolting toward the Chaos Weapon at full speed, yelling to everyone that was near it to run. Firing her last grappling arrow, Yasmin careened herself toward the remnants of the weapon, coming to a stop in front of it as the others ran and Izzy found herself swept up in the stampede. Yasmin's bow broke into particles of light before another weapon forged itself and she erected a massive aetheric shield around the weapon and herself, the Chaos Weapon exploding soon after. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, Izzy cried out in vain, knowing full-well that nothing could have survived that as panic and loss set in, twisting her emotions into a pulp. That was just before Yasmin, battered and broken, popped out of thin air at her feet like she had only two weeks prior, muttering out in a broken staticy voice "Sorry. Dwarves." Before Yasmin's systems shut down once more and she ceased to move, prompting Izzy to swiftly schlep her to the twin dwarves before the rest of the crowd noticed.

In the days following the Chaos Weapons' defeat, Yasmin had been patched up by the dwarves and had given up her secret identity as The Hood -- now widely known as the hero who saved the realms, the Arrow. The Tribunus sat securely in Eorzean Alliance custody, The Ogre was presumed dead, and the world was a little safer thanks to the Arrows' efforts and the efforts of the other unnamed heroes who helped her. Yasmin had accomplished her goals and saved her star, and in so doing figured out who she was in the process, becoming something more than the sum of her parts. Yasmin had found a new way forward where the future was limitless and where she would never forget her mistakes but would do better this time with the second chance that she was given. A way where Yasmin would use her strength not to do harm but to protect what matters most and fight for something more than herself -- another way.


End file.
